Truss pad



June 24, 1947. F. J. GRUBB 2,422,894

Tnuss PAD Filed Oct. 1, 1946 F/G. 1. ,fr/6.2.

I INVENTOIL FRED J 639068/ Patented June 24, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE TRUSS PAD` Fred J. Grubb, Marshall, Mich. Application October 1,1946, Serial No. 700,515

(Cl. 12S- 118) 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to trusses.

An object of the invention is to provide a rupture pad which has acentral opening surrounded by a plurality of resilient converging sectorportions which move closer together to reduce the size of the opening asmore and more pressure is applied thereagainst.

Another object of the invention is to provideI a rupture pad which isformed of a hollow casing fllled with air and which has convenient meansfor inating the casing.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inflatable rupturepad which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, and effectivefor the purpose intended.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description of a preferred embodiment thereof asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, and in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved rupture pad.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the pad shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Reference is now had to the drawings; in which like reference charactersdenote similar parts throughout the several views. As shown, there is ahollow iiexible rubber casing indicated generally at 2 and having arearward wall 4 with an air chamber 6 formed Within said casing andforward of said rearward wall 4. The chamber 6 has a forward wall 8substantially parallel to and spaced from the rearward wall 4, bothwalls being substantially circular in plan view with the forward wa11 8being somewhat smaller in diameter than the rearward wall. The walls 4and 8 may also be oval or other shapes depending upon their use.

Protruding forwardly out of the casing are a plurality of inwardlycurved flexible rubber fingers Il) which have air chambers l2 formedtherein and communicating at their base ends `I4 with the interior ofthe main air chamber 6. The bases I4 of the ngers I!) are thicker incross section than their tips I6, as best shown in Figure 3, and are:arcuately inwardly inclined toward the axis of the device to overliethe mouth I8 of a normally open recess 20 formed between the fingers Iand substantially concentric with the axis of the casing 2.

A back plate 22 of metal or other suitable material covers the entireback surface 24 of the casing 2, being retained in contact therewith bymeans of a peripheral inturned flange 2-6 which overlies and engages theside wall surface 28 of the casing 2 near the back surface 24 as shown.

An air valve 3|] extends through aligned apertures formed in therearward wall 4 of the casing 2 and in the back plate 22, so as to allowair to be pumped into the interior chambers 6 and l2 to inflate them toa degree depending upon the nature and size of the rupture.

The back plate 22 has an aperture 32 formed therein with a plate 34disposed between the surface 24 of the wall 4 and the inner surface ofthe back plate, the plate 34 being greater in diameter than the aperture32. The plate 34 is apertured to threadedly receive two screws 36 whichalso extend through apertures formed in a holding member 38 overlyingthe outside of the aperture 32. The member 38 has a slot or recess 40formed in its inner surface to allow a strap or other holding member topass therethrough for attachment to a truss belt.

It will be apparent that when the truss pad 2 is placed against the bodywith the mouth opening I8 over the rupture, pressure from the bodyagainst the pad 2 serves to bring the tips I6 of the lingers Il] closertogether so as to more and more close the mouth i8 of the recess 2U.Whenever it is desired to change the pad 2, it is only necessary torelease the air through the air valve 30, take the pad 2 out of itsframe and put in the new one, which is then inated with a small air pumpsuch as a tire pump or the like. The individual cells or hollow fingersthus t in between and over the muscles, so that the pad will not placeany pressure on the muscles, and makes for greater comfort while wearingthe device.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention inspecific terms, it is to be understood that various changes may be madein size, shape, material and arrangement without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim: A

1. A truss comprising a back plate, a hollow resilient air lled casingcarried on said back plate, a plurality of hollow air lled resilientiingers protruding out of said casing, with their interiorscommunicating with the interior of said casing, said fingers beingdisposed about an axis substantially perpendicular to said back plateand normally spaced from each other.

2. A truss comprising a back plate, a casing formed of resilientmaterial and having an air chamber therein, a plurality of resilientngers protruding forwardly out of said casing and having individual airchambers communicating with the air chamber in said casing, the tips ofsaid fingers dening a, normally open recess mouth formed therebetween,whereby pressure thereagainst will tend to reduce the size of said openmouth.

3. A truss comprising a back plate supportable on a truss belt, a casingformed of resilient material and having an air chamber therein, aplurality of resilient fingers protruding forwardly out of said casingto form a forwardly open recess therebetween, said ngers havingindividual air chambers communicating with said air cham ber in thecasing, the tips of said fingers converging toWard each other to definea normally open mouth of said recess formed therebetween, wherebypressure by the body against said finger tips will tend to reduce thesize of said open mouth, and valve means for inlating and deating saidcasing and lingers.

FRED J. GRUBB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

